Haunted
by Sprklz03
Summary: A little Jo/Zane fluff. A look into what Jo is really thinking about when someone from her passed shows up. Set between "I'll be Seeing You" and "Liftoff". It turned out to be longer than I anticipated.
1. Chapter 1

"Hey Lupo." Jo's eyes closed as she sped up, trying to get away from the prying. She had gone to bed early the night before only to save herself from the chatter Zoe was going to want to have. "I know you heard me, you hear everything." His hand grasped her elbow half way across the rotunda and spun her to face him.

"What do you want?" She asked, opening her eyes only to be met with his suspicious baby blues.

"An explanation would be good. I never took Josephina Lupo for a thief, but I might have to report that you stole my grandmother's ring." She knew something like that would be coming. Some form of black mail or bribe for his silence; she had known so ever since he kissed her fifteen hours previous. "I don't want to, but what else am I supposed to do?"

"You might want to watch out, she can kill with nothing more than her hands." Zane's eyes rolled in annoyance and challenge as Jo froze. She peeked around Zane's bulk to see the gold eyes staring back at her with a hint of a smirk in them. Then, for the first time in ten years, Jo squealed like a girl.

"OH MY GOD!" Zane was forgotten was she tackled Andrea, the two friends falling to the floor laughing in a tangle of limbs. Jo was so relieved to see her best childhood friend that she didn't seem to care that she was acting like a stupid teenager in the middle of her workplace.

"Sup Jay?" Andrea asked removing Jo's death grip hug.

"Why are you here?" She asked. Andrea smiled and tilted her head to the side, that knowing smirk crossing her features again. "How did you get here?" Suddenly, Jo remembered all the red tape it took to get into the town, let alone to be able to surprise the Head of Security in the middle of Global.

"Daddy."

"Duh." Jo said.

"As to why I am here, I heard you got shot." Andrea smiled as Jo's eyes rolled.

If looked at from an outside source, the two would seem so completely opposite it would never occur to most that they were best friends. Jo was order and discipline and Andrea was the chaos that Jo always had to clean up.

"I'm fine." She said.

"I wanna see the scar." Andrea said like it was the most obvious thing to say to someone who had just been shot.

"There isn't one." Jo said, shifting to her feet and standing up, Andrea following.

"How did you get shot and not have a scar?"

"Eureka." Andrea nodded, her blonde curls bouncing into her eyes before she brushed them off with a familiar gesture.

"Right." She pursed her lips and looked around at all the scientists staring at them. "You look good Jay. Also, who is the Super-Man wannabe in the t-shirt?" Jo sighed as her life was once again brought back into a crossing path with Zane.

"Zane." She said under breath and glancing at her shoes. Andrea was going to practically launch herself at him. Zane was Andrea's type: male. And a sexy one at that.

"Donovan?" Jo's eyes snapped back up, annoyed slightly at the decibel her friend used, so she nodded in response. "That is Zane Donovan?"

"In the flesh sweetheart." Jo cringed; he just had to open his mouth. Jo looked up at her friend, ignoring Zane's looming bulk. Andrea's eyes darted down Zane's torso, landing briefly on his arms before she blinked back to look at Jo.

"Jo, what the hell are you complaining about?" Jo snorted, actually laughing for the first time since the time change at Andrea's tone. Obviously, Andrea couldn't understand complaining about someone that was physically attractive.

"She just likes to complain, she really loves me." Zane said, draping his arm causally across her shoulders. Andrea frowned.

"Oh yeah, that could get annoying."

"That's me. Annoying. And persistent. I want that explanation Lupo." The last sentence was whispered in her ear as she shrugged off his shoulder.

"And, there is the murder-you look again." Andrea, wedged herself between Jo and Zane, looping her arm through Jo's as she steered her away. "So what are we doing today?" Jo started to move toward her office, feeling Zane's eyes boring into her back.

"I was just going to ask you that myself."

"Well I am going to shadow you, until the slave driver lets you off to play." Andrea smiled, and Jo did too as they reached the stairs. "Hopefully with Zane, can I play with him please?" Andrea's attention was pulled back to the middle of the Rotunda. Jo glanced back, there had never been any doubt that Andrea had good taste, but Zane was still staring at them.

"Well, if I have to arrest him maybe you can." Even though she and Zane weren't together, and she knew that Andrea would never be serious about someone like Zane, it almost broke her shattered heart to say the words out loud.

"Oh, can I bring him to thanksgiving dinner? Daddy would hit the roof!" Jo laughed at the vision of Andrea's father sitting down to Thanksgiving with Zane the convicted Felon.

"You are horrible." She said as they turned into the hallway with her office.

"I know."

The day was pretty quiet. There were no town destructive experiments that got out of hand, no security threats that needed her full attention and Jo and Andrea walked into Café Diem at 6 pm sharp. Jo smiled as her best friends eyes widened and looked around.

"So?"

"It's… quaint." Andrea said, looking around and trying to force a smile to her face. Jo laughed out loud. "That's not so quaint." Jo followed Andrea's eye line to see Zoe and Zane in one of the booths along the wall. Jo murmured some response and turned toward that counter. "Who is that?"

"Zoe Carter." Jo said as Vincent nodded a hello at her as she ordered her coffee.

"Your Zoe Carter? Isn't she like fifteen?" Jo snorted into the coffee Vincent had just put down. "Pedophile much?" Andrea plopped down on the stool next to Jo and looked at the Chef Extraordinaire. Andrea said most things that came into her mind and she never bothered to keep her voice down. "And I'm sorry, but Zoe and Zane, that's too many Z's for a relationship to work."

"Excuse me." Jo looked over slowly to see a fuming Zoe with her arms crossed. Andrea turned, never one to be fazed and smiled.

"Sup mini Carter?" Jo was fighting really hard to hold back the smile that was threatening to bubble out. Then again, she caught Zane sauntering over and her urge to laugh disappeared.

"I am nineteen." Zoe stated.

"I am 27. What's the point?" Andrea asked. Zoe's green eyes narrowed and Jo looked back to her coffee to ignore everyone. The problem was, Andrea was too loud to drown out.

"Who are you?" Zoe asked

"Andrea. Jo's bestie. Sup Superman." Jo heard Zane snicker and then Andrea choked a little. Jo turned to see Zoe hugging Andrea.

"Jo talks about you all the time."

"Zane, here is your food… is Zoe ok?" Vincent asked, handed Zane a plate with a burger on it.

"She talks about you too." Andrea said as Jo was removing Zoe's arms from her best friends neck. Zane glanced around at the three women, then at Jo again before shaking his head and going back to the table he and Zoe were occupying earlier. Zoe started to follow him.

"Hey Zoe." The younger collegiate turned. "Careful with him." Jo sighed and turned toward the kitchen, attempting to ignore the conversation. Why was it that Zane always penetrated into her life, even when she was attempting to keep him at arms length.

"Zane's fine." Zoe responded, and Jo could tell by the tone of her voice that she had straightened her back in defense.

"Trust me. I've known my fair share of men like that, he should have pervert tattooed across his forehead. Just watch it. I don't want Jo to have to kill anyone." Vincent had come back, eyes widening at the last sentence uttered by her friend.

"Jo, we are having Karaoke tonight. Are you going to sing?" Vincent asked. Jo laughed, partially out of shock by the statement and partially by Vincent's attempt to make the situation not so volatile.

"Why would I sing?" The last time Vincent had thrown a karaoke night she hadn't been the person in the cockpit of her body and Julie had ended up kissing Fargo and getting in trouble with a lot of people, then almost dying.

"Because you have a slammin' voice." Andrea said. "Come on, it would be fun."

"Then you sing." Andrea smirked and Jo looked over at her, smiling. It was a challenge but Jo knew that it would be followed. The two of them never backed down from anything; ever. Not her brothers wrestling matches, not her brothers daring them to do stupid things, not Andrea's sisters telling them they were too chicken to streak through the neighborhood on Halloween.

Andrea was smirking larger as she spun around on her stool like a little child.

"Hey Vinny!" Vincent looked up and glanced around before realizing that he was being called. "What songs do you have?"

"We have every song, just like we have every food." He said. Jo smiled at the bear of a man and nodded her concurrence to Andrea. "Every song ever recorded is in that jukebox and I have all the karaoke tracks as well."

Andrea sat with her jaw practically on the floor, Jo laughing silently beside her as some weirdo named Larry hit notes only dogs could hear.

"Is this normal?" Andrea muttered. "I have never heard 'Carwash' murder so terribly." Jo choked out another laugh as Larry finished his rendition of the 70's classic and stepped off stage. Andrea looked over, that horrible wicked smile on her face as she dancing through the tables and up to the stage. Jo spun on her stool, watching Andrea don a red fedora hat and tilt it down her wicked smile still spread across her face.

_You and I walk a fragile line, _

_I have known it all this time_

_But I never thought I'd see it break._

Jo had heard the song earlier in the car with Andrea, because she vaguely remembered the tune. But as the lyrics flashed on the screen it became hard to breath.

_It's getting dark_

_And it's all to quiet _

_And I can't trust anything now_

Her eyes involuntarily glanced at the physicist at the tables along the back wall. She wished she could tell what was going on in his brain, if that kiss was something other than a way to get a rise out of her, or just an experiment.

_Oh, holding my breath_

_Won't lose you again_

_Something's made your eyes go cold_

Her memory flashed to the blue eyes that looked up at her with so much hope in them, his heart in his hands as he knelt before. When she came back, those same beautiful eyes looked her at with hatred and suspicion, no longer wanting her to join him in life. She glanced down at the coffee in her hands.

_Come on come on _

_Don't leave me like this_

_I thought I had you figured out_

_Something's gone terribly wrong_

_You're all I wanted_

She breathed in, breath hitching around the ache in her chest. It felt like every bone in her body was in pain as her heart shattered again. She really needed to stop thinking about the past and how wonderful it was, and how much Zane completed her and loved her and it wasn't until she had a life threatening situation that she knew that Zane really was all she ever wanted in a partner.

_Come on come on_

_Don't leave me like this _

_I thought I had you figured out_

_Can't breathe whenever you're gone_

_Can't turn back now I'm haunted_

And haunted she was. By the eyes that looked at her every day with coldness instead of the warmth and love she was used to. Haunted by the eyes that should have been in their place, closed in passion as he kissed her senseless and smiling when they opened.

_Stood there and watched you walk away_

_From everything we had_

_But I still mean every word I said to you_

He had. Walked away to play doctor with some PhD that Jo would never have. She blinked over briefly before focusing on her coffee. Something made her still want him, still love him, still crave for him to be the better man she knew was in there somewhere.

_He will try to take away my pain_

_And he just might make me smile  
But the whole time I'm wishing he was you instead_

Well duh.

_Oh, Holding my breath_

_Won't see you again_

_Something keeps me holding on to nothing_

Her hand strayed to the necklace around her neck, only to realize it was gone. She had thrown it back at him two days ago leading up to that kiss in the Sheriff's office. She glanced back over at the couple as the chorus rang through her ears again. The blue eyes locked with hers; he had been watching her. They were slightly narrowed but not in anger. It was confusion; her being the current puzzle he needed to solve.

But the eyes she suddenly saw were different. Smiling at her, loving her, teasing her.

_I know_

_I know_

_I just know_

_You aren't gone _

_You can't be gone no_

He couldn't be could he? Was Carter right, that people were who they are no matter what? That the man she fell in love with and wanted to spend the rest of her life with was sitting there just in a hard candy coating?

_Come on come on don't leave me like this_

_I thought I had you figured out_

_Something's gone terribly wrong_

_Won't finish what you started_

She knew she was starring, but she wasn't seeing what was in front of her. She was seeing the man on his knees. The one to whom she had brought food when he was electrocuting himself. Who made a joke at her expense to ease the attitude he had been giving her when he was freezing. She blinked the tears away. That stupid ice problem had been just before he proposed.

_Come on Come on don't leave me like this_

_I thought I had you figured out_

_Can't breathe whenever you're gone _

_I can't turn back _

_I'm haunted._

The eyes starred back at her and she could see both sets. The ones of her lover, her future husband the man who wanted to spend eternity with her. As well as the ones that were actually here. The ones that needed to figure out why that kiss felt the way it did, and how she got his ring without actually stealing it from him.

_You and I walk a fragile line_

_Never thought I'd see it break_

_Never thought I'd see it.*_

She looked back down at her lap, breathing in through her nose as she vaguely heard the microphone drop to the ground. She missed her boyfriend. Her partner. She needed those eyes to look back at her from the physical being that was sitting across the café.

She was pulled out of her thoughts but Andrea's hand under her elbow.

"Come on Jo." She looked up, in a daze to see Andrea's face no longer smiling but looking at her with an intensity that said something was wrong. Jo stood, surprised to find her knees were weak. Andrea had her though, lifting her up and walking her out of the café. "It's ok, come on."

"Jo?" She choked at the sound of Zoe's voice. The person who she was supposed to love like a sister and yet couldn't help but hating a little every time she said Zane's name. Suddenly she was buried into Andrea's shoulder, fighting back the sobs so they would at least be quite.

"Come on baby in the car." Jo cringed. She hated when Andrea called her baby. It meant that she was acting like one, even though she knew that Andrea's mother called her baby when Andrea was upset so it was only natural and was meant to be comforting. Jo got in without question. "Put the keys on the driver's seat." Jo reached into her pocket and did as she was told before looking up through the windshield.

Andrea had Zoe by the shoulders and was attempting to get the younger women to go back inside. Andrea said something and Zoe nodded, turning at she did to go back to her date. Jo thought it odd that Zoe paused, turned back and then motioned with her arms somewhere down the street. Andre nodded and moved to get in the car. As she opened the door, that other voice kicked in.

"Is Jo ok?" Andrea paused, glancing in the car at Jo's audible gasp that she couldn't fight back anymore tonight.

"She'll be fine. Thanks Super man."

"Can I talk to her gate keeper?" Andrea smiled briefly and turned to Zane.

"She doesn't want to talk to you." Jo wasn't sure how Andrea knew that, but they had been best friend since they were five. Maybe she was easier to read to Andrea.

"How could you know that?" Zane asked, crossing his arms over his chest and smirking.

"Because I know Jo. Have fun on your pervert date." Without giving him a chance to respond she scooped the keys off the seat and settled herself behind the wheel. Jo didn't question when Andrea learned how to drive a stick but the second they pulled out of the parking spot, her best friend hit the gas, shifting within seconds and taking them out of town.

***This song is not mine. It is the brain child of the talented Taylor Swift, "Haunted". **

**Please let me know what you think.**


	2. Chapter 2: Stories by the lake

Andrea pulled her from the car and the fresh breeze off the lake hit her nose.

"The lake?"

"Zoe told me how to get here. I figured it was somewhere away from prying ears." Andrea moved in the darkness to one of the logs along the shore line, looking back and waiting for Jo to follow suit. So she did. They sat in silence for a couple minutes, looking out at the reflection of the full moon on Lake Archimedes. "So." Jo glanced at her friend out of the corner of her eye. "How long have you been in love with Zane?"

"What?" That was not really what she was expecting.

"Jo. You starred at him like he was the only thing that mattered on this planet while I was singing. How long have you been in love with Zane?" She should have known. She was raised the same way that Jo was and was one of the most observant people Jo knew.

"A while." That was the easiest answer right? Or was the easiest answer that she wasn't in love with Zane? She couldn't say that. Andrea knew when people where lying, a trick she got from her father.

"Since before or after Founder's Day?" Jo's breath stopped.

"Why would you choose Founder's Day?" Andrea still hadn't looked at her. She knew Jo well enough to know that she wouldn't want to be examined like she was a microorganism under a microscope.

"That was the day you stopped complaining about him. We talked that morning, you were complaining about some Founder's Day celebration that Fargo was making you help out with and it didn't help that Donovan let all those monkey's free, just like almost every other conversation we have. Then bam. You wouldn't even so much as say Zane's name. Nothing. At all. No more complaining about him, it was like he dropped off the face of the planet. I thought you killed him." Jo laughed. She almost had that day when GD turned into a zombie movie. "So was it before Founder's day?"

"It's complicated."

"So explain it to me."

"I can't."

"I'm not that dumb you know." Jo snorted in response. Andrea was far more strategically inclined than anyone Jo had ever met, including herself. There was no way anyone could mistake her for dumb just because she was blond.

"I can't talk about it." What was she supposed to say? I'm not actually the Jo you remember, let's discuss and see if the same things happened when we were kids that I remember? Yeah that would go over huge. And Andrea's father would have a shit-fit. Andrea turned slowly to her, a full on offended look on her face.

"You can't talk to me about anything Jay." Jo breathed in.

"It's not that. I just…"

"Am afraid of who I'm going to tell?" Andrea knew her better than anyone. Jo nodded. "Like Daddy?" She nodded again. "Why would I tell daddy?"

"Because he is your dad. And it's that big." Andrea licked her lip, pulling her bottom one between her teeth.

"You know, I don't tell Daddy everything. Like the time we stole a hundred dollars from his safe, after hacking into his computer and getting the combination. Or like when we picked the lock on your dad's gun case and shot the trees in my backyard." Jo smiled; when her dad had found the lock before they were done blowing things up he grounded them for three weeks. "Tell me Jo. I am not going to tell anyone." Jo looked over, her eyes begging for trust and saw Andrea's resolve and support; Jo could tell her that she was planning on taking over the world and Andrea would ask how they were going to do it and what Jo needed her to do.

So Jo launched into the story, starting with the day she met Zane while he was in jail for stealing money that he donated to a scholarship foundation. Andrea smiled at that; she understood the Robin Hood theory. She paused at Andrea's shocked face when she revealed Zane proposed.

"And you froze." Jo looked over in question. "You were afraid to lose him weren't you?" Jo nodded and continued into the bad part of the story.

"When we got back home, we were here. I walked in and told Zane yes and he thought I was asking about his getting out for good behavior. He was actually in jail for letting…"

"Monkey's out of the behavior lab. You called that morning."

"When I said I would marry him, he laughed at me. He hates me." Jo looked out to the moon over the lake and sighed.

"He doesn't hate you. He just doesn't love you yet." Jo glared at her friend. "What? You think Zoe can keep him interested? She's a child Jo."

"She's on his same level. Zane and I never made sense, he was always too smart for me and never…"

"Jo. He loved you. I don't blame him." Jo smiled; Andrea was her best friend she had to say that. "He does care about you. He came outside to make sure you were ok. And I am assuming that you weren't telling anyone because of the stupid protocols?" Jo nodded. "Daddy never needs to know you know." Jo breathed and smiled. "You can cry now." Jo nodded, allowing the tears that had been building up for months to spill over onto Andrea's shoulder as her friend hugged her. "Come on. Let's get you home."

Jo directed Andrea to S.A.R.A.H and pulled to a stop outside the door. Andrea was laughing at something that had been mumbled by Jo but she didn't really remember what it was.

"So, what are you just going to watch them and wallow in self pity?" Jo led the way down the stairs to the bunker she called home.

"No. I am letting him go." Jo had revealed the whole tale about the hallucinations and how she had thrown an engagement ring at him causing him to kiss her in the Sheriff's office.

"Yeah sure."

"S.A.R.A.H. door." Jo said rolling her eyes.

"Jo…" Andrea started as Jo took her jacket off. "Can we stay up all night and braid each other's hair and do make overs and have pillow fights?" Andrea asked. Jo turned around as she came out of the closet.

"We haven't done that since we were twelve." Jo said.

"Can I get in on the pillow fight?" Jo froze briefly before locking eyes with Andrea, that stupid knowing smirk on her face. Andrea would say anything to get a rise out of guys. Jo glanced at the couch where Zane was perched his tablet in his lap.

"What are you doing here?" Jo asked, successfully burying her emotions again as those calculating eyes of his roamed her over.

"Helping Zoe with her physics final. There were some thing she didn't quite understand so she asked me to come here after Café Diem to help out." Zane stood, sauntering over with those ridiculously sexy jeans of his.

"Hey Zane… Oh hey Jo are you ok?" Zoe asked coming out of the kitchen.

"I was sort of serious about braiding hair. I haven't gotten my hands on your hair in years." Andrea suddenly yanked the hair tie out of Jo's hair.

"She has great hair. I wish she left it down more." Zoe said, sliding her arm through Zane's elbow.

"Yup. It's way sexier when it's down. Now I get to play with it." Andrea was pushing her up the stairs. Jo smiled as Andrea followed her up the stairs. "Hey, just because you take your shirt off doesn't mean I am going to ignore the braiding." Jo turned to Andrea's wicked smile.

"You suck." Jo muttered as she got to the top of the stairs.

"I believe what we agreed upon this morning was that I am horrible."

Zane was waiting for them in the Rotunda as they walked into GD the next morning. Andrea looked him up and down in his t-shirt and jeans and smirked.

"Seriously. You are gonna let that get away from you?" Andrea asked. Jo rolled her eyes at her.

"As sexy as he is, the personality just isn't the same." As they approached the staring physicist Andrea's voice dropped as she whispered in Jo's ear.

"Then maybe you should get to know this personality. You might like it just the same." Jo looked at her and Andrea shrugged. "Sup, Super-man?"

Before Zane could answer however Fargo came bustling over.

"Jo. I need you in my office. Mansfield is here and he wants to talk to us."

"Oo, let's go." Andrea said, slipping her arm through Zane's elbow. Zane frowned down at her in complete confusion. Fargo looked over and his eyes widened.

"Mansfield doesn't want Zane there."

"It's fine Director Doug. Your office right?" Andrea pulled Zane away from them. "So, you hacked into the border patrol account right?" Zane glanced back at Jo and the look on his face actually made her laugh.

"You can't go in there." Fargo rushed after the pair of felons waving his arms around. Jo followed, to see Andrea and Zane walk through Fargo's office still talking about hacking techniques when Fargo caught up to them.

"Donovan." Jo cringed as she ran into the office. Mansfield was red and Zane was white. He didn't like getting blamed for things he hadn't done it, especially for getting the look Mansfield was giving him now.

"Sir." Andrea smiled at the General and yanked Zane over to the couch.

"Lupo, care to tell me what exactly is going on?"

"Um…" But Andrea's louder than necessary voice cut her off.

"So you have to explain more of this back door you found into the New York Stock Exchange." Jo closed her eyes, not wanting to see Mansfield's head explode. "Oh, maybe at Thanksgiving. I heard you were an East Coast guy and my mom makes the best homemade cranberry sauce ever." Her hand was running up and down Zane's bicep.

Jo was conflicted. She didn't know why to be angry at Andrea. Jo knew that Andrea was all over Zane simply to get at the General. So Jo wasn't sure if she wanted to be angry at Andrea for making her job more stressful that day or for hitting on Zane shamelessly in front of her. The General cleared his throat and Andrea looked over.

"Daddy Zane is coming to Thanksgiving." She announced. Jo's anger faded at the look of shock on both Zane and Fargo's faces.

"Like hell he is. I don't need any more reason for you to get into trouble." Mansfield said.

"But he's so hot. And I have never been caught. Unlike some felon's in this room, I know how to cover my tracks." Zane's shock faded as he took the good nature jab. Before he could respond, Jo walked over to Andrea.

"If you could just not piss off your Dad right now, it would make my life a lot easier." Andrea looked at her for a second, her gold eyes pouting before she smirked.

"Anything for you Jay." With that, she leaned up and planted a kiss on Jo. Having been friends since they were five, kissing on the mouth really wasn't that big of a deal; it was like kissing a family member.

"Thank you."

"That is so hot." Zane muttered. Andrea's smirk simply got bigger.

"Come on Zane. We can go to lunch." Andrea bounced off the couch, slipping an arm around Jo's waist in a hug. "Sorry." She muttered. Jo nodded. The others in the room would think Andrea was apologizing for making that vein stand out on her Father's head. Jo knew better: That sorry was 'sorry, you know I'm not slobbering over your boyfriend's doppleganger because he's cute. It's just to piss off the dad.'

"It's like 8 am." Andrea paused as she turned toward Zane. She gave Jo another squeeze before yanking Zane to his feet.

"Then how about breakfast." Jo bit her lip at her friends hinting tone and the look of invitation in her eyes. Andrea may flirt, but after the story the night before she wouldn't touch Zane unless he was dying. Zane smirked and followed Andrea out of the room.

Later, after Mansfield has come to terms with the fact that his daughter was hitting on the biggest pain in his ass for fun, Jo was in her office reveling in the silence. Andre could talk an ear off.

"Your friend needs to go." So much for silence. Jo looked up to a very angry Zoe.

"What?"

"You need to escort your slutty friend out of Eureka now."

"Slutty? I'm not that slutty." Andrea sauntered in, flopping down on the couch in Jo's office.

"Oh really? It's not slutty of someone to go around kissing other peoples boyfriends?" Jo looked over to Andrea who was pensive. She tapped a finger against her chin, something she did when she was trying to remember something.

"No. I haven't kissed someone's boyfriend in a long time." She said. Jo stood planning on intercepting the fact that Zoe looked like she was about to explode.

"Zane?" The name made her freeze.

"Oh, he said he didn't have a girlfriend." Andrea said. Jo turned slowly, un able to believe what was being implied. Watching Zoe with Zane was bad enough, now she had to come to terms with Andrea kissing him.

"Excuse me?" She let her anger flow into the question, hoping that Zoe would see it as taking her side. Andrea knew better.

"I kissed Zane."


	3. Chapter 3: Zane's Thoughts

"So Mansfield is your dad?" Zane sat down, coffee in hand across from the spunky blond.

"Only by blood." He laughed. She seemed to like her dad as much as he did. "So. Can I ask a sort of personal question?" Zane leaned back, looking at the woman in front of him. Being asked a personal question was not something that people normally asked the first time they hang out.

"Go ahead." But he always did like a challenge.

"What's up with Zoe?" Ok, so he was expecting something more along the lines of boxers or briefs.

"What do you mean?" The gold eyes that matched her hair were no longer the joking flirting attitude that had been when she was hitting on him in front of her dad, they were serious.

"I mean, what do you, a full grown, thirty year old man see in an eighteen year old."

"She is nineteen." Zane really wasn't sure why he was correcting her. Zoe was fun to hang out with and the thorn it put in her dad's side was fun.

"Same difference. You are still going out with her."

"We are hanging out. It's not like she is my girlfriend."

"And, if it is serious" She continued, seeming to not hear the words he said, "why exactly were you starring at Jo last night while on a date with Zoe?" Zane looked up at her.

This woman was observant, almost as much as he was. He breathed in. Jo was a mystery. That kiss was amazing; it took almost all of his sense to be able to speak after it. It had haunted him the last two days, the feel of her lips against him made him harden in places; far more than he already did whenever she looked at him.

Lately, Jo was acting so differently he didn't really know what to think of it. Mostly, that she had kissed him back. That was not something he was expecting at all. He also wanted it to happen again, soon and often. He had been slightly jealous when this woman sitting across from him had openly kissed Jo in Fargo's office. Of course it had also really turned him on.

"Was I starring?" The easiest thing, instead of revealing true feelings to Jo's best friend was turn on the charm. "I was so entranced with what was going on up on stage I don't remember starring at Jo." The smirk that spread across Andrea's face told him he shouldn't go there.

"You remember who my dad is right?" Was she honestly pulling the 'you should be afraid of my dad card'? Like that stopped him.

"Yeah."

"Then you should know, I know when people are lying." He breathed in. Just like Jo knows when someone is lying. He nodded, resolved to tell the truth.

"I kissed her the other day."

"I know." Andrea said. That gave him pause. Jo told her best friend. She had talked about it instead of just forgetting it like he thought she would. He pushed the questions back and continued before Andrea could talk again.

"It was… off." He glanced up. "It was great, but it felt like…" He missed the knowing glance that spread across her face. "I don't know."

"Talk through it." Andrea said firmly.

"It felt familiar. Like it had happened before." He looked down at the coffee in his hands, not wanting to admit things that sounded so stupid. "Her hands went to the right place..." Don't go there. The feeling of her fingers brushing against his cheek, tangling in his hair, it sent shivers down his spine. "She reacted more than I thought she would and…" He couldn't say that. It sounded too cheesy romantic, too real.

"And what?" He glanced up. Andrea was leaning on the table inches away from him. "You can tell me Zane. I am really good at keeping secrets." He laughed. They had talked about hacking techniques and he had found out that she cracked her dad's access code when she was twelve. It was taking everything in him not to ask for the password.

"She clung to me like, I don't know. Like she was suffocating and I was an airbag." He cringed. That sounded just as stupid as he thought it would. But Andrea wasn't smirking at him, she wasn't laughing. She was nodding. Like it made sense to her. "Why would that make sense?"

She looked up at him, her gold eyes focused and thinking about something.

"For reasons that aren't to be disclosed." She whispered. "Hey I was serious about you coming to Thanksgiving. I am trying to get Jo to come too." She leaned back, the tone of the conversation abruptly changing.

"You know why it makes sense." Andrea looked at him. "You have to tell me. "

"Um, no I don't." She said.

"Come on. I'm going crazy. She had my grandmother's ring." Andrea stilled, her joking demeanor gone. "My grandmother gave me that ring on her death bed. I wouldn't just give it away for fun. If Jo had it, and she didn't steal it which I don't think she did, it means that she meant something to me. Something I never thought I would let happen." Andrea shifted, crossing her arms over her chest. "I need to know. If I loved her enough to give her that ring I need to know and I need to know why." Andrea pulled her bottom lip into her teeth, a move Jo did when she was nervous or thinking. "Did someone wipe my memory and everyone is just going along with it? It would be normal for that to happen in Eureka."

"Your memories fine." She said.

"So you do know." She nodded. "Come on. You tell me I will tell you how to get into the stock exchange." Her eyes narrowed at him as a smirk spread across her face.

"That's just mean." She laughed with him. "I'm not going to tell you Zane. It's not my place or information to tell." He sighed. He had been so close to figuring out why Jo was haunting his dreams. "But I can tell you this." He looked back at her. "Jo is worth the fight. Let her get to know you again."

"What again?" He asked. Andrea smiled.

"Let her get to know this person, sitting here with me freighting over a stupid kiss. Let her get know something other than your snarky exterior. Let her in." Zane leaned back. He had a problem letting people in. "And get to know her again. There is more to her than just the hard ass who throws you in jail twice a week."

"Yeah I know." He said. She smiled at him.

"She's worth it. You just have to show her that you aren't giving up. No matter what." He nodded at her. "And drop Zoe. That's just disturbing. It's make my skin crawl." Zane laughed.

"I'm not actually dating Zoe. She needed help with her physics class so she called me and we started talking and she got a crush. She's a cool kid but, the only thing I see in her is getting under her dads skin."

"Ok, well don't let Jo see that side of you." Zane full on laughed. A laugh that drew way more attention from others in the cafeteria than he wanted.

"She knows that side." Andrea nodded. "But I get your point."

"Just let her see how fun you actually are. And that you have a decent person under there." Zane laughed, checking the time on his phone. "Go to work." She said standing up. This woman was far too observant for his liking but he followed her and stood up. Suddenly, she was hugging him.

"I was serious about Thanksgiving. It's actually a lot of fun and if Jo can make it, I think it would be good for both of you." He hugged her back briefly before she pulled away, leaving her arms locked around his neck.

"Both of us huh? You sure you aren't going to monopolize the kissing part." She smiled at him.

"Eh, I've kissed her enough." She leaned up pressing her lips against his in the most platonic kiss he had ever experience. He blinked down at her and her eyebrows quirked up. "Can't let Jo have all the fun."

"Oh but I don't get any fun. Thanks." She laughed kissing him again as an old friend would, removed her arms from his neck and walked out of the cafeteria.

Zane walked into Café Diem at 5:30. Zoe was sitting at the counter fiddling with her fork. He breathed in. She was going back to Harvard in two days and he probably shouldn't let her think he was interested in her. If they let her dad think that was a totally different story.

"Hey Zoe." He said sitting down. She turned to him, eyes narrowed in a way he had never seen directed at him.

"Hey bastard." So she had either found out about him kissing Jo, or about the fact that he didn't see her as anything other than a friend who needed help with physics.

"Ok, what did I do?"

"I saw you with Jo's slutty friend in the cafeteria." Zane nodded. Maybe that would be the easiest way to end things. Let Zoe think he was interested in Andrea, then hanging out with Jo to get information about her friend.

"Zoe, you do know that we are just hanging out right?" He had never had to tell a girl this before. At least not one that he cared about hurting. Zoe was a good friend he really didn't want to hurt her. It also might piss Jo off and that was counterproductive.

"Um no." Zoe never was one to beat around the bush.

"Zoe, you're nineteen. You live across the country and as cool as it is to be able to talk to someone in town about the east coast doesn't mean that I am interested in more than a friendship. I don't do committed or long distance." He might have just shot himself in the foot there.

"So you are going after Andrea for a one night stand?" He was going to have to hurt her; it was the only way to get her to realize she was too young for him.

"People can change." Zoe's eyes narrowed slightly again before he continued. "For the right person." That was cryptic enough. If Zoe got on his case later he would say that Jo turned out to be the right person. Dear Einstein was he thinking about actually being with Jo? Planning out a future story for the town when he wouldn't let her go after a one night stand. "You're a good friend Zoe. I like talking to you."

"But I'm not the right person." She said looking out through the window. Jo and Andrea were walking toward the door, arms wrapped around each other's waists. Zane caught himself starring; Jo looked happy. He hadn't seen her look that way since before Taggart left. She was smiling, and there was a spark in her green eyes that made his stomach clench.

"I guess not." Zoe, being a Carter, was also as observant as Andrea was.

"It better be Jo then." She whispered in his ear. He turned to look at her, to find her glaring at him. "And don't hurt her this way." She said. He nodded slightly. And, then Zoe Carter, nineteen year old premed student at Harvard, one hundred pound daughter of Sheriff Jack Carter smacked him across the face and stormed out.

"Hey Vincent. Can I get a burger to go please." He asked. He wasn't up to being the center of attention, and Andrea just walked in.

"Good boy." She whispered before kissing his stinging cheek.

"That's great. Continue the dog treatment." Andrea laughed, taking the stool in front of him.

"Oh your big boy. I'm sure that you've been slapped before." He nodded.

"Where is your partner in crime?" He asked.

"Oh, West Point killed her." He frowned over. Jo had just been walking with her, how was she dead. "They replaced her with the rule abiding Enforcer." Andrea pouted.

"You know she's not the Enforcer."

"No way, you call her that too?" Zane laughed again. This girl was fun to have around.

"Stop swapping names." Jo said, entering their conversation.

"You didn't tell me he called you Enforcer. That's awesome." Jo rolled her eyes as Zane swirled around to look at her. He could see that she had braced herself for the onslaught of question he had been tormenting her with every time he saw her over the past couple days.

"How's Zoe?" He asked, tenderly touching his cheek. Jo stiffened again before leaning in close to him.

"Did you tell her about the Sheriff's office?" Zane looked over, close enough to breath in her scent. He could feel her breath on his cheek and he could practically feel the tension in her.

"Would it be wrong to shove you two together?" Andrea staged whispered at him. He smirked, never breaking eye contact with Jo.

"Only if you want your Enforcer to kick your ass." Jo replied. "Did you Zane?" There it was again. That stupid shiver that shot down his spine whenever she used his first name instead of his last. He really wanted Andrea to follow through with her thought but knew that a kiss in Café Diem would not go over well. He could feel the tension of everyone in the place; they hadn't had a battle in the Lupo Donovan war in months, not since this Jo standing in front of him, with her terrifying secret showed up.

"No." He said, leaning in only slightly more. "Why?" He asked, forcing himself to lean back against the counter in attempt to get some Lupo scent free air.

"Nothing."

"Jo, just tell him." Andrea snapped, grabbing the coffee Vincent handed her. Jo bit her lip, looking over to her friend. "Oh fine. Why did you ask Zane about that?" Zane saw Jo smile slightly.

"Zoe told me to take care of him." Zane hoped the look on his face wasn't too hopeful. Andrea however smirked.

"Great. You can start by bringing him to Thanksgiving so he gets a proper holiday." Andrea said.

**AN: I don't own Eureka, however I do own Andrea. There is far too much blank space to fill in and I am so ecstatic that other authors feel the need to write their own filler just like I do.**


	4. Chapter 4

I have had a better response to this story than I imagined. I just wanted to let you guys know that I am currently working on another version, soon to be finished and up called "Thanksgiving." Also, I will be bringing Andrea into the other story that I am writing and hopefully will have up soon but that one is a bit more complicated and more Eureka.

Thanks again everyone.


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